The negotiations were spoiled by… advertising. Prime Minister of Canada: We are in the situation we are in

Canada's negotiations with the US on a trade agreement were interrupted by an advertising campaign by the Ontario government, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Monday. Meanwhile, British Columbia announced its own campaign about the effects of American tariffs.

“There was a series of very detailed, very specific, very extensive discussions and negotiations going on until these ads came out,” Carney said, answering questions from journalists at the ASEAN summit in Malaysia. At the press conference, he added that there was progress in the negotiations, but currently “we are in the situation we are in.” He emphasized that Canada is ready to return to talks when the US wants to return to them. Carney's statement on Monday was his first comment on journalists' questions about US President Donald Trump's breakup of negotiations last week.

When asked if he was dissatisfied with Ontario Premier Doug Ford's actions, Carney said: “There's no point in being dissatisfied, emotions won't get you very far.” He added that in complex negotiations one can expect “unexpected turns” and “you have to approach such situations coldly.”

However, public broadcaster CBC on Monday quoted people involved in the negotiations as saying that the Ontario premier's anti-American rhetoric had been a problem for negotiators for many months. The ad, which aired on U.S. television last week and over the weekend, is an ad from the Ontario government that uses a 1987 statement by then-U.S. President Ronald Reagan criticizing the tariffs. On Thursday evening, US President Donald Trump announced that he was breaking off trade talks with Canada because of the ad, and after Ford's announcement that the ad would be broadcast until Monday, Trump announced on Saturday that an additional 10 percent raises tariffs on imports from Canada.

On Monday, when asked about what Canadian goods he wanted to raise tariffs on, Trump did not specify his intentions. He only repeated his past opinions that Canada “has been robbing us for a long time and they won't do it again,” and added that he did not want to meet the Canadian prime minister, the media quoted.

Carney and Trump are currently visiting Asian countries, both politicians participated in the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) summit in Malaysia, and will also be present at the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Community) summit in South Korea.

Meanwhile, another Canadian province announced its own advertising campaign in the US about the effects of US tariffs. British Columbia, which is a large exporter of construction timber to the USA, intends to start its campaign in November, the provincial premier, David Eby, announced on Friday, after Trump's decision, in a series of posts on X. He wrote, among other things, that “Americans need to hear how tariffs are raising prices.” “Our wood has higher tariffs than Russia. Absurd,” he added. He posted graphics on his Instagram account that include, among others: the statement that “Trump's tariffs favor Russia”, and a reminder that Americans have been building their houses from Canadian wood for years.

British Columbia's campaign is set to be “more diplomatic,” CTV News reported.

Canadian public broadcaster CBC pointed out that Trump had seen an advertisement for the province of Ontario three days before the talks broke down and mentioned it in a neutral way during a meeting with Republican politicians. His decision came only after Thursday's news that the Canadian government had limited the number of cars Stellantis and GM could import into Canada duty-free. Despite financial assistance from the Canadian federal government, Stellantis has now decided to move part of its production to the USA.

From Toronto Anna Lach (PAP)

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